In modern media portrayals, the Devil is often portrayed as this suave mastermind who is always several steps ahead of any mortal. But in German folklore, his portrayal was rather different - quite frequently he was the butt of jokes. The following tale serves as a good example (and one which would not be out of place in an old...

Basically, in this tale a farmer's girl lost her way in the forest and stumbled across a hut inhabited by seven dwarves. She asked them for a place to stay for the night, and received it (after the dwarves argued about who would get the honor of giving up his bed for the girl)....

This much is real: In the late Renaissance and Early Modern era, Venetians mined in the German mountain ranges - primarily so that they could find rare minerals for their famous glass production. Since the details of these were considered state secrets, their mining operations were likewise fairly secretive....

Listen to a number of cat tales from folklore - including one of the most bonkers stories from German folklore that I know, which is saying something!

During my study of German folklore, I was surprised to learn that one of the most common folk tale narratives featured treasure hunters - not just "people getting rewarded treasure for a virtuous deed", but people who heard that a treasure was at a certain location, and wanted to get it. They usually failed, but hope springs...

Modern media portrayals of the Wild Hunt have a fairly consistent portrayal - a huntsman on his steed, surrounded by his hounds. But when you actually start looking into European folk tales of "Wild Hunt"-type phenomena, you quickly notice that the portrayal is rather more diverse than you'd think. Here is one of my favorite...